Sam Brusco, Associate Editor04.29.21
Traffic accidents, tumor resections, and congenital diseases can cause significant trauma, possibly leading to large bone deformations and/or bone loss. Bone has some capacity to regenerate, but large bone defects can’t be healed without major medical procedures.
Metallic implants are widely used on these occasions, but the bioinertness of such implants poses a major bone tissue engineering challenge. Bioinert metal implants lack bone integration, loosen over time, and may lead to adverse reactions around the implantation area.
In Biointerphases, Middle East Technical University in Turkey researchers showcase alternative approaches to metallic implants that use natural polymer coatings to improve osseointegration.
"We utilized a soft structure, which is very similar to human tissues, and placed this structure between human or animal bone and a metal surface," author Zafer Evis told the press. "This serves as an interphase increasing bone tendency to attach on implants and prevent loosening or bacterial invasion."
Establishing a strong, robust chemical interaction between a metal and organic, natural polymer significantly advances bone tissue engineering. It opens new applications with a broader range of modalities that can be applied in nearly all hard tissue defects and traumas.
Natural polymer coatings significantly improved metal electrochemical corrosion properties, and metals tend to resist corrosion after polymer coating. Polysaccharides and proteins can be successfully grafted onto metal surfaces without losing their biological nature.
"One of the surprises is that the coatings can be modified in unlimited ways," said Evis. "They can be composited, reconfigured, and tailored to allow or disallow certain biological activities, such as allowing cell attachment while disallowing bacterial attachment."
Coatings may also be designed to possess multifunctionality, which is the goal in tissue engineering applications.
The researchers plan to improve biological functionality of natural polymer coatings on titanium implants. Even though natural polymers can be successfully coated on metal implants, the robustness, yield, and mechanical stability of polymers on metal are still very problematic.
They will try to surpass the need for complex devices and method to improve the stability of polymer-metal interactions and eventually achieve long-term interphase durability. The methods discussed could be used in tandem with other implant surface modification methods to further enhance metallic implant bioactivity.
Metallic implants are widely used on these occasions, but the bioinertness of such implants poses a major bone tissue engineering challenge. Bioinert metal implants lack bone integration, loosen over time, and may lead to adverse reactions around the implantation area.
In Biointerphases, Middle East Technical University in Turkey researchers showcase alternative approaches to metallic implants that use natural polymer coatings to improve osseointegration.
"We utilized a soft structure, which is very similar to human tissues, and placed this structure between human or animal bone and a metal surface," author Zafer Evis told the press. "This serves as an interphase increasing bone tendency to attach on implants and prevent loosening or bacterial invasion."
Establishing a strong, robust chemical interaction between a metal and organic, natural polymer significantly advances bone tissue engineering. It opens new applications with a broader range of modalities that can be applied in nearly all hard tissue defects and traumas.
Natural polymer coatings significantly improved metal electrochemical corrosion properties, and metals tend to resist corrosion after polymer coating. Polysaccharides and proteins can be successfully grafted onto metal surfaces without losing their biological nature.
"One of the surprises is that the coatings can be modified in unlimited ways," said Evis. "They can be composited, reconfigured, and tailored to allow or disallow certain biological activities, such as allowing cell attachment while disallowing bacterial attachment."
Coatings may also be designed to possess multifunctionality, which is the goal in tissue engineering applications.
The researchers plan to improve biological functionality of natural polymer coatings on titanium implants. Even though natural polymers can be successfully coated on metal implants, the robustness, yield, and mechanical stability of polymers on metal are still very problematic.
They will try to surpass the need for complex devices and method to improve the stability of polymer-metal interactions and eventually achieve long-term interphase durability. The methods discussed could be used in tandem with other implant surface modification methods to further enhance metallic implant bioactivity.